Stephen Eichhorn’s THE CLIMB/REALITY at the CTA Damen Blue Line Station

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER, 2013 CTA Damen Blue Line Station

Johalla Projects, in collaboration with Alderman Joe Moreno and the WPB SSA #33, is very excited to announce STEPHEN EICHHORN: THE CLIMB/REALITY, a public art installation at the Damen Blue Line Station.

Stephen Eichhorn’s process explores his theories about construction and the natural world. Intuitively piecing together found images of flowers and foliage, Eichhorn creates a uniquely hybrid vegetation that exists only within a work’s frame.

By placing these lush microenvironments in otherwise empty spaces of color and texture, Eichhorn isolates them as subjects. As a result, the architecture of each piece becomes more engaging and more dramatic. Furthermore, Eichhorn’s works – especially when reproduced in such large scale as seen in the station – transform into sculptures themselves, further abstracting the physicality of the layered materials and the intricacy of their arrangement.

In The Climb/Reality, Eichhorn considers new ideas about surface, structure, and spatial relationships while simultaneously remaining true to his characteristically complex methods of collaging and draping. The pieces balance between contemplative and combative, signifying an exciting departure from the cool beauty of earlier bodies of work made up entirely of more conventionally beautiful plant specimens.

Stephen Eichhorn (b. 1984) lives and works in Chicago, IL. In 2006, Eichhorn received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been included in numerous national solo and group exhibitions, with highlights including Ebersmoore, Chicago (2012, 2011); the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL (2012); Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (2012); Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago (2008); Josée Bienvenu Gallery, NY (2008); and Cairo, Seattle (2008).–Written by Tyler Blackwell

A special thanks goes to WPB SSA #33 for sponsoring this project.
Printed by Latitude Digital Lab on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper.

For more information about this project, please contact Johalla Projects at johallaprojects@gmail.com.